Back in the Day
by undercloakkept
Summary: “If I have to listen to another one of their war stories, I swear I'll fling myself off of the Astronomy Tower.” --- Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny drive NextGen wild with their reminiscing! A NextGen/Missing Moment Combo.


BACK IN THE DAY

"Young lady, I do not want to hear another word about how much work it is. Back in the day when I attended Hogwarts, I once took twice as many classes as you're taking and considered it a privilege. Not to mention that one of them was Arithmancy. Not to mention that I was simultaneously campaigning for the humane treatment of Buckbeak. Not to mention that your Uncle Harry and..."

"Oh please, for once actually _not_ _mention it_," Rose groaned, sagging back in her chair. "You're not really going to start in about the Time-Turner again, are you?"

"Rose." Ron's voice was gentle but full of caution.

"Sorry, Mum."

"What's a Time-Turner, Daddy?" Lily bit her lip when her siblings and cousins all scowled at her. Hugo hissed at her under his breath. "For Merlin's sake, don't encourage them, Lil!"

Oblivious, Harry asked the children genially, "Who wants to hear the story about Buckbeak and the Time-Turner?"

"Mum, _please_!" Rose protested, her eyes nearly spinning in her head.

Hermione frowned at Rose and Hugo in turn before surveying her niece and nephews. It seemed that every underage witch and wizard in the house was squirming restlessly in their seats. Mutiny was at hand. "Very well. You may all be excused."

"Just don't slam the…"

The screen door banged shut on Ginny's words as the children quickly fled the table with Rose in the lead.

"Race you!" James shouted over his shoulder as he took the steps two at a time and pointed towards the pond. He soon thundered down the dock with a safe lead that was befitting of his seniority, long legs and self-granted head start. Nevertheless, he drew up with an expression of dismay when he saw Hugo already hovering over the water at the end of the dock. "Hey, no brooms!" James complained.

"Oh great! Another entry for 'The Retroactive Rulebook According to James'," Rose teased breathlessly as she and Al skidded to a stop. "Knock it off, Hugo. Dad said no flying over the pond. And he'd better not catch you on his Cleansweep either. That thing's an antique."

Hugo's feet had barely touched down when he carelessly cast aside the broom and leapt from the end of the dock. "Last one in!"

"No!" shouted Rose, holding out her hand as James and Al moved forward as one. "We have to wait thirty minutes before swimming."

They settled down onto the edge of the dock, toes dragging the surface of the water. "We're supposed to wait 30 minutes after _eating_," Hugo corrected, treading water efficiently. "We finished eating ages ago. Their bloody war stories took up at least thirty minutes."

"Uggggh!" the children groaned in unison, before Rose swiftly admonished "Language, Hugo."

"_Sorry,_ _Mum_," Hugo taunted from a safe distance, highly satisfied to see his sister blush as she realized that she had, indeed, sounded just like their mother.

"It's bad enough when it's just one of them," observed Al. "But get them together and there's no end to it." He launched into a deadpan impression of his father. "Back in the day when we were saving the wizarding world…"

"Back in the day when your father and I were Prefects..." Rose interjected primly, this time channeling her mother intentionally.

"Back in the day when your Uncle Hagrid was teaching Care of Magical Creatures..." Lily clapped her hands with glee.

"Back in the day when Gryffindor won the House Cup…" James' voice had an unpleasant edge.

"Oh, James, just let it go. We'll win it back next year," reassured Rose.

"Back in the day when I was Keeper…" Ron's deep voice seemed to come from the water. They all turned to watch Hugo expectantly as he effortlessly mimicked his father's lopsided grin. Only his freckled shoulders were visible above the water, but he shrugged them in a manner that was half self-conscious, half self-satisfied. They could still see Hugo's hands rhythmically treading water, but it was easy to imagine them jammed deep into the imaginary pockets of his swimming trunks. Hugo shook his wet fringe over his eyes. "Back in the day before your Mum realized she was _madly_ in love with me…"

"Uggggh!" they chorused. Hugo pantomimed putting his finger down his throat, momentarily forgetting to tread. He sank below the surface and came up spluttering just in time to hear his sister complain.

"If I have to listen to another one of their war stories, I swear I'll fling myself off of the Astronomy Tower."

"Get in line," joked James. "Oldest first."

"Mum says 'age before beauty'," Lily confirmed, slipping her hand into Rose's and smiling up at her older cousin adoringly. "I like hearing stories about Uncle Fred. And Fluffy, too."

"Yeah, that's cool," said James, ruffling his little sister's hair. "I don't think they've quite figured out how much ammunition they're providing us with though, Rose. Underage magic, sneaking out, dropping out of school, throwing hexes left and right. And to hear Uncle Neville tell it, apparently snogging all over the place."

"Uggggh!"

"It does provide a few interesting disciplinary loopholes, doesn't it?" Rose snickered, her mood vastly improved by James' clever observation. She jumped at the sound of her father's voice close behind her.

"Hey, you lot!" Ron beamed down at them affectionately. "What're you doing still dry? Back in the day when I was your age…"

"Last one in!" squealed Rose, clapping her hands over her ears as she leapt. Her cousins followed suit, splashing in behind her with their ears tightly covered. The only exception was Lily, who was still young enough to fear drowning in deep water more than being bored to death by adults.

"Oi! I'm hurt!" Ron called after them good-naturedly, clutching his hands over his heart and staggering dramatically. He bent over to pick up his Cleansweep and found himself nose to freckled nose with Lily.

"I'll listen to your story, Uncle Ron."

"Well _thank you_, Lillikins!" Ron smiled, sitting on the edge of the dock and scooping her into his lap. "As I was saying, back in the day when I was your age, there were seven of us lot, me and your Mum and your uncles. "

"Uncle Fred makes six boys," Lily interjected, holding up her fingers.

"Yes, luv." Ron dropped a kiss on her head. "Uncle Fred made it six of us brothers. And we were always either in the water or the air. Your Mum too. And by the time I was about James' age, your Dad and Aunt 'Mione were sometimes here, too. I remember your Aunt 'Mione had this little blue swimsuit with red trim on the top and white buttons on the side. And she didn't like the deep water very much either, Lily, not at first. But sometimes, as long as the Twins weren't around, she'd let me carry her out on my back and…"

"What colour was Mum's swimsuit?"

"Huh?"

"Mum's swimsuit. What colour was it?"

"Er…I don't have a clue, Lil. Let's just say it was green, alright? Anyway, Aunt 'Mione would always start out by saying 'Ron, don't go out too deep!" and I would say 'You don't have to be scared, Hermione, not when I've got you,' and she would say 'You're not going to dunk me are you?' and I would say 'I won't dunk you,' and she would say 'If you dunk me, it'll take forever for my hair to dry,' and I would say 'Hermione, I promise I won't dunk you!' and she would say 'Lucky for you, because if you dunk me, I'll make it a point to beat you at Wizard Chess tonight!' and I'd say "You've never beaten me at Wizard Chess in your life, Hermione, why do you think you're going to start now?' and then she'd slide off of my back and say something like 'Well there's a first time for everything, isn't there, Ron?' and she'd be looking up at me with her arms still around my neck and that would set me to thinking about kissing her but I never had the courage and I was such a git back then that I'd probably have drowned us both anyway so she'd finally say something like "You're not going to swim off and leave me out here by myself, are you?' and I would say 'Hermione, I'd never bring you out here and just leave you, 'specially not when I know you're scared and you trusted me and all,' and she would say "Ron, …"

"But you did."

"Huh?"

"You did take her out and just leave her. In the woods that time. When she was scared."

"Did your Aunt 'Mione tell you that?" Lily noticed that her Uncle Ron's happy expression had disappeared and his voice had an unusual catch in it. She slipped her arm around his back, instinctively comforting him as she shook her head solemnly.

"Daddy likes to tell us about when you three went hunting together."

"Well, he's right enough, I suppose, but I didn't mean to leave her, Lil. Leave them. I didn't mean to leave them. Did he say I didn't mean to? Because it was on account of I had been wearing this terrible locket that made me think terrible things and..."

"It's okay, Uncle Ron. Daddy told us you didn't mean to. He said you came back as soon as you could and when you finally got there you saved him from drowning." Lily looked at the water warily.

"Right, then." Ron settled comfortably back into his story. "Now where was I? Oh yeah, your Aunt 'Mione. She had this little blue swimsuit with red trim and white buttons. And I'd get her to go out in the water, all the way out there where Hugo is, and..."

_S p l a s h !_

"Lily! You're _swimming_!"


End file.
